Making backup of your system?!

hello guys,
i need help on the following question:
how and with what software can i and should i backup my whole Operating system?
by this i mean after i have installed Windows XP and all the apps i need and i am working with, i want to make a copy of it....so when next time my systems crashes i just reinstall with one cd/dvd my whole new Operating system included with my software....by that i want to save time of installing every single software over and over again..
i hope that this is possible...and i hope you guys can help me out.....

thnx and peace

Acronis True Image 10
Norton Ghost

Both are good ones, Acronis includes a Home version which is quite easy to use.

Have to agree w/Ascaris on this one. I use Ghost at work for our Windows stuff and at home and my side gig I use Acronis.

I think the easiest way is just to hook up an external USB hard drive, and copy and paste your C drive after the new install.

That will work Daggett but it will eat up an inordinate amount of HDD. If you use either Ghost or True Image you can set the compression ratio for the image that is created.

Quote:

Originally posted by Daggett

I think the easiest way is just to hook up an external USB hard drive, and copy and paste your C drive after the new install.

This guy wanted to create a full backup from his system. You can't just copy stuff from C to external drive, lots of important parts are going to be missing, like registry. You can't just copy&paste registry.

ev1|0ne had a good point on the compression ratio, you can control lots of things if you do it properly. And for me, the only solution is Acronis or Ghost. Why do things on the hard way when some company has made the thinking for you.

thnx for help guys, will try both of them...i was looking by myself for a backup utilities and those two where the ones.....so will try them and see which one fits the best....although i must say i will have to go with ghost as i can access my backup even if i can not boot up windows...which is in my case the problem

thnx one more time for help guys

peace and may the force be with you